Massachusetts Offers Millions for Worker Safety Initiatives

Officials with The Patrick Administration recently announced that more than $5.5 million was added to the Workforce Training Fund General Grant Program. According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, this fund is going to help to provide useful and lifesaving training to close to 6,000 current and newly-hired workers at more than 70 companies across the Commonwealth.
Our Boston workers’ compensation lawyers understand that this grant is going to help to create more than 400 jobs by the end of 2015. But with more job positions come more risks for accidents, which is where the training comes in. The program grants help to better the record investments in worker training and education made in recent years. In the manufacturing industry alone, there has been more than $10 million awarded to more than 115 manufacturers over the last 2 years. Not only will this new grant help this industry, but it’s also hoping to help those in hospitality, engineering and financial services.

Companies have the power to help ensure the safety of all workers!

“…their ability to compete globally depends in large measure on the skills of their workers,” said Richard C. Lord, President and Chief Executive Officer of Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

Under federal law, you’re required to be provided with the proper training to keep you safe on the job, regardless of what job duties you execute. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) offer a wide selection of training courses and educational programs to help broaden employee and employer knowledge on the recognition, avoidance, and prevention of safety and health hazards in their workplaces. If ignorance of specific job hazards and of proper work practices is even partly to blame for this higher injury rate, then training will help to provide a solution.

Massachusetts’ Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development‘s Workplace Safety and Health Training currently provides training on occupational health hazards and indoor air quality problems to public and private employers, groups and organizations.

In addition to the proper training, there are other ways in which your employer is required to keep you safe on the job. They’re also required to make sure that your work space is clear of risks and dangers that could cause serious injury, sickness, illness and even death.

In 2011, there were close to 5,000 workers who were killed on the job across the U.S. In addition to these fatalities, there were close to 400,000 people injured on the job, and many of these accidents could have been prevented if workers were better trained. If you don’t have the proper training to keep you safe on the job, speak up. You should be provided with the proper safety equipment and you should know how to use it, too. Speak up and protect yourself from a costly, and potentially fatal work accident.If you are injured on the job in Massachusetts, call the Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Glassman for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your workers’ compensation claim– 1-888-367-2900.

Disclaimer – The settlements above are only a sample of cases represented by our office. Each case is different and the amount of a potential resolution of your case will vary considerably depending on a substantial amount of factors. Some case results were worked in conjunction with partnering law firms.